"I just think from what the coaches have told me, I have a better opportunity somewhere else," Kline said. "They put it to me straight and in a professional way, which I appreciate ... It's clear that Jared's the guy. They told me, 'If you want to start, you should go somewhere else.'"

But if the hatchet sounds buried in that conversation, following through on his plans to go to Corvallis might dig it back up. Kline was a highly coveted recruit in the class of 2012, ranked as the No. 2 pro-style quarterback in the nation and the No. 47 prospect overall.

Though Kline never started a game in the Bears' disastrous 1-11 2013 campaign, he came off the bench for seven apperances, completing 52.4 percent of his 82 passes for 5.4 yards an attempt and a 3-to-4 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

Despite those iffy numbers, Klines' recruiting pedigree suggests that he could still offer Oregon State's passing game a major boost come 2015 -- one that could make Dykes' efforts to dig Cal out of the Pac-12 North cellar just that little bit more difficult.